In short, collective intelligence relies on the combined brain power of large groups of people. We see it at work when political parties choose a candidate or create policy platforms. We see it on the Internet, when groups of strangers solve problems and edit collaborative encyclopedia entries. We even see it in the behavior of ants, which are capable of maintaining complicated nests and executing huge military raids, tasks far beyond the intellectual abilities of any one ant….How can we use this to reform intelligence? I suggest we create a national Open Source Agency. Half of the money earmarked for the agency would go toward traditional intelligence work. The other half would provide for 50 state-wide Citizen Intelligence Networks, including a 24/7 watch center, where citizens can both obtain and input information.

The U.S. Air Force plans to set up what could become a major command aimed at safeguarding U.S. military and civilian cyberspace, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said on Thursday….Wynne said he hoped the new command would eventually be on par with such major Air Force units as the Space Command and the Air Combat Command. In creating what could become a unit led by a four-star Air Force general, the Air Force would set the stage for significant budget resources and congressional interest.

Former intelligence officer Robert David Steele recently appeared on the Alex Jones show to make the provocative claim that Google is currently cooperating with secret elements in the US government, including the CIA. Steele, who now runs OSS.net and is a proponent of open source intelligence, said that “Google has made a very important strategic mistake in dealing with the secret elements of the U.S. government—that is a huge mistake and I’m hoping they’ll work their way out of it and basically cut that relationship off.” In his view, Google’s attempt earlier this year to avoid turning over information to the Department of Justice was little more than a hypocritical charade.

One response to “Open source info defense strategy, Intellipedia and an Air Force Cyber-command”

I’m all for a national Open Source Agency. This is what the U.S. intelligence community is morphing into, as it must.
I’d like to come up with something more sexy than the “Open Source Agency.” How about: U.S. Intelligence Inc.? Or maybe: Matrix USA. Or somethin’. We could start a wiki on just what to name the national “agency.”
I, ever the egoist, volunteer to head this new organization.
Friends, Romans, countrymen, send me your ideas!